| Ken Hassman is a good friend of mine; he owns | | | | Based on comments I have received indexes are |
| his own book indexing company, Hassman Book | | | | considered quite important. Many book distributors |
| Indexing Service. I decided to ask him for an | | | | will no longer consider selling non-fiction books if |
| interview. Book indexing is an art form-- not | | | | they do not have an index. |
| everyone can do it. Ken has created indexes for | | | | 5. What do you feel are the biggest obstacles in |
| some of the biggest names in publishing, Oxford | | | | your industry today? |
| University Press, Cambridge University Press, | | | | Much of what takes place in the publishing world is |
| McGraw Hill, and many others. | | | | being outsourced to India and for freelancers like |
| 1. How did you get into this business, and how | | | | myself this has caused a huge shift in the amount |
| long have you been indexing books? | | | | of work we get. Some of the publishers I have |
| My indexing career began with a chance meeting | | | | worked for have expressed their sadness about |
| at the wedding of a friend's daughter where I ran | | | | this in that they feel bad for the U.S. based |
| into old friends I had not seen in years. In catching | | | | freelancers they have worked with for years and |
| up I discovered they had a really successful | | | | hope that eventually the work finds its way back |
| indexing business. | | | | to the U.S. |
| When they told me this I said the very same | | | | 6. Do you charge on an hourly basis, or by the |
| thing that people say to me: "Indexing, what's | | | | job? |
| that?" They gave me the same answer I have | | | | Most indexes are based on a per-page rate. I |
| given many times since: "Indexes, you | | | | may get a book and be asked to create a |
| know-those things at the back of books." | | | | medium density index meaning 3-4 index entries |
| They asked me if I would like to learn the art/skill | | | | per page and be paid at a rate of $3 per page. I |
| of indexing and they mentored me with paying | | | | may be asked for a light density index of 1-2 |
| jobs for the next two years during my last two | | | | index entries per page and be paid at the rate of |
| years of teaching school. Good friends that they | | | | $2-2.50 per page and I may be asked to index a |
| are, after two+ years they offered to help me | | | | single-subject encyclopedia which requires about |
| get my own indexing business started and | | | | 15 index entries per page and be paid at the rate |
| introduced to me a couple of their clients. | | | | of $7 per indexable page. You can see there is a |
| 2. When did you decide to strike out on your | | | | wide range. |
| own? | | | | 7. Do you have any advice for authors who are |
| In March, 2005, I had to let the school board in | | | | considering an index? |
| the district where I was teaching know if I was | | | | Indexing is a tedious, labor-intensive process. It's |
| going to be back the next year and I decided I | | | | much more than simply creating a "main word" |
| had served out my usefulness and with the | | | | concordance with a long list of nondifferentiated |
| blessings of my friends and indexing mentors I | | | | locators (page numbers only with no qualifying |
| handed in my resignation effective in June, 2005. | | | | subentries). Authors will know their material much |
| 3. Which publishing companies have you done | | | | better than an indexer would but indexers have |
| indexing work for? | | | | the skill set that enables them go through the |
| Two of my main publishing clients for about 4 | | | | material and create relationships that make sense |
| years now have been Cambridge University Press | | | | to an end user. |
| and Oxford University Press. I have a great | | | | More publishers are requiring authors to create |
| relationship with a variety of production editors at | | | | their own indexes these days. I've noticed that |
| both publishers and they both send me indexing | | | | since this policy has come into existence the past |
| work directly and/or have authors get in touch | | | | six moths I am getting a lot more direct calls |
| with me. | | | | from authors asking for help. |
| In addition I have indexed a lot of books for | | | | If you are in need of an index, please call or |
| Cengage Learning, ABC-CLIO (formerly | | | | e-mail Ken at Hassman Indexing Service; he's |
| Greenwood Publishing Group), Springer, Wiley | | | | always happy to answer. Ken enjoys talking to |
| Blackwell, World Net Daily Books, New Press, | | | | authors-- that's how I got to know him! I've |
| Johns Hopkins University Press, WestEd and | | | | learned a lot about indexing and how important it |
| International Society for Technology in Education. | | | | is to making a book successful. |
| 4. How important is an index to the success of a | | | | You can also see his blog, Hassman Indexing on |
| book? | | | | blogger. |